Journal box closure



A ril 18, 1939. 'w L. DWYER\"ET AL 2,154,892,

JOURNAL BOX CLOSURE Filed Aug. 5, 1936 A k x VENTORS +2 wijf m WYMWATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 18, 1939 JOURNAL BOX CLOSURE William L. Dwyerand Michael J. Healey, In-

dianapolis, Ind., assignors to a way Service & Supply Corporation,

Indianapolis, mm, a

corporation of Indiana Application August 5,

3 Claims.

This invention relates to closure or cover means for journal boxes suchas are used on railway cars and one of the primary objects of theinvention is the provision of an improved closure adapted to ensuretight and effective closing of the journal box.

Another object of our invention resides in the provision of improvedmeans in association with a cover or lid of the construction commonlyused on journal boxes, which means is adapted to provide a tight seal orclosure for the journal box opening under operating conditions such aswould cause closures as heretofore constructed to leave the face of thebox against which it should seat.

A more specific object of our invention resides in the provision ofmeans for providing an effective seal for journal box openings adaptedto be applied to covers of standard construction in a Very simple andinexpensive manner.

How the foregoing, together with such other objects and advantages asmay appear hereinafter or are incident to our invention are realized, isillustrated in preferred form in the accompanying drawing, whereinFigure 1 is a front view of a railway journal box having a closureembodying our invention applied thereto, certain portions of the viewbeing broken out to show interior construction;

Figure 2 is a cross section taken substantially on the line 22 of Figurel, and

Figure 3 is a fragmentary cross section taken substantially on the line3-3 of Figure l.

The invention will be described in connection with journal boxconstructions now commonly employed on railway cars which comprise, ingeneral, a journal box A having a front opening 4 for the introductionof the journal box packing composed of oil and waste, a cover B adaptedto seat on the surface 5 surrounding the opening 4, a hinge pin 6fitting suitable hinge lugs on the box and cover for pivotally mountingthe cover on the box, and spring means such as a torsion spring 1. Thelower free ends of the spring I are engaged behind a clip 8 secured tothe inner face of the cover B and the upper portion 9 of the springengages a projection 10 on the journal box lug. This constructionprovides for yieldingly holding the box either in open or closedposition in a well known manner.

It is customary to machine the surface 5 of the box but not the insideface of the coverB that comes in contact with it, and since the cover isa rough casting the surface may often be irregular and distorted so thatthe cover does not 1936, Serial No. 94,330

make a good seal. box very seldom lines up cover to let the the box tomake a complete surface of the opening.

Also the hinge pin hole in the with the hole in the cover come in propercontact with seal around the entire Furthermore, the cover is made heavyto withstand the rough usages of service and, therefore, its

vibration keeps it continually upon to Wear this vibration is dependedinertia is such that bouncing, and while the surfaces of the box and lidinto a good contacting dirt and other foreign matter the bouncing causesthe cover to open entrance of'water and into the box.

We propose to overcome such difficulties and to provide very effectlvesealing of the box by means of an improved inner cover or sealarrangement indicated as a whole by the reference letter C andcomprising a relatively light cover or lid member H mounted on theinside of the main or standard cover B and of a rectangular pan madepreferably in the form of sheet metal.

The inner lid is mounted on the cover B by means of two shouldered boltsor studs l2, having heads l3,

the bolts or studs being secured in the cover by means of castellatednuts 14. Before securing the bolts in place they are passed throughholes I5 in the lid larger in diameter than the Compression springs.

tions l6 of the bolts.

I l which are slightly diameter of the porl'! are slipped onto the boltsand then a centering and equalizing bar It having the bolts pass is putin place secured to the outer cover.

guides for the inner lid and the opening in the box.

The holes IS in the bar holes it through which and the bolts are thenThe bolts act as keep it lined up with.

are sufficiently larger in diameter than the portions 15 of the boltstoenable the bar to rock on a centrally located bearing member or rivet20 secured in the bar and having a rounded head which contacts theinside face of the outer cover B.

It will be seen from the foregoing that the inner lid is spring mountedon the outer cover and that when the cover is open the compressionsprings push the inner lid against bolts which act as stops.

the heads l3 of the The mounting and bar arrangement is such that theinner lid can move toward and away from the outer cover in parallelrelation thereto and also so that it can be tilted in all directionswith the rivet 20 of the bar l8 as a fulcrum. Thus the inner lid willaccommoitself to the surface 5 of the box and make the relation of thissurface to the inner face of the outside cover were such that the coverwould not res t flat on its seat. For

example, if the condition were such that the inner lid would firstcontact with the surface 5 at only one point or along only one edge ofthe box opening, then the compression springs would yield and the bar I8 would rock on its pivot until a complete seal were made all the wayaround the opening. Under such a condition the outer cover would notseat flat on the inner cover, but since the inner cover provides theseal for the opening any foreign matter which might pass the outer coverwould not be able to pass into the box. In other words, the arrangementis such that the inner or sealing lid is forced flat onto the surface 5of the box before the outer cover comes into contact with the flange 2|of the inner lid, thus ensuring an effective and complete contact.

Since the inner lid is made of sheet metal the flange 2| which extendscompletely around the lid is smooth and free from distortion so that agood seating surface is provided. I prefer to line the seating face ofthe flange with a gasket 22 preferably of oil resistant rubber orsimilar resilient material which may be Vulcanized in place. Thisprovides a yieldable seat and further ensures a tight seal.

It is also pointed out that due to the lightness of the inner lid l I ithas considerably less inertia than the outer cover B and since it isheld in place by the reaction of the compression springs [1 between itand the heavier cover, it is maintained in a closed or sealing positioneven though the outer cover may vibrate in service when the railway carpasses over rail joints, switches, crossings and the like, so thatobjectionable substances cannot enter the journal box to destroy thelubricant for the journal and bearing.

The lower portion 23 of the inner lid is disposed at an angle or taperedso that any water, dirt or other foreign matter which may collect in thepan portion of the lid due to vibration of the outer cover or toirregularities in its shape may be readily drained or removed by openingthe cover.

By means of our invention a journal box closure is provided in whichthere is a double spring action for maintaining an effective seal,i.'e., the main closure spring 1 acts to urge the outer lid toward theseat and the spring mounting arrangement of the inner lid acts to seatthe inner lid properly on the box. Also in the case of jolts which tendto unseat the cover, the spring 1 reacts from the box to offerresistance and the springs l1 react from the outer cover to maintain theinner lid in sealing position so that the combined action of thesespring devices prevents unseating of the closure. In addition the gasket22 because of its yieldable nature, aids in maintaining the seal.

We claim:

1. In combination with a journal box having a front opening, pivotedcover means for said opening, and spring means for spring closing saidcover means, said cover means comprising an outer lid, an inner lidhaving a surface adapted to seat on the periphery of the box opening,spaced studs secured in the outer lid for mounting the inner lid on theouter lid, a bar loosely fitting said studs and located between theinner and outer lids, compression springs between the bar and the innerlid, a center bearing for the bar having contact with the inside of theouter lid, and means on said studs limiting movement of the inner lid ina direction away from the outer lid under action of said compressionsprings.

2. In combination with a journal box having a front opening, pivotedcover means for said opening, and spring means for spring closing saidcover means, said cover means comprising an outer lid, an inner lidhaving a surface adapted to seat on the periphery of the box opening,

and means for yieldingly mounting said inner lid on the inside of saidouter lid for movement toward and away from the outer lid in parallelrelation thereto and for tilting movement with respect to the outer lidincluding an equalizer bar and springs between said bar and said innerlid. 7

3. In combination with a journal box having a front opening, pivotedcover means for said opening, and spring means for spring closing saidcover means, said cover means comprising an outer lid, an inner lidhaving a surface adapted to seat on the periphery of the box opening,and means for yieldingly mounting said inner lid on the inside of saidouter lid comprising members secured to the outer lid for guiding theinner lid, a bar centrally fulcrumed on the inner face of the outer lid,and compression springs between the free end portions of said bar andthe inner lid.

WILLIAM L. DWYER. MICHAEL J. HEALEY.

